| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha | ||
| Date of birth | 10 April 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Garça, São Paulo, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left Back | ||
He has played for Spanish club Real Madrid for eleven years, winning four leagues, three UEFA Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups. He is also one of only six players to have played more than one hundred matches in the Champions League. He is especially famous for a free kick against France on June 3, 1997, where he shot from 35 m (110 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored.
Roberto Carlos began his professional career playing for União São João, a football club based in Araras (São Paulo state). Despite playing at what was seen as a lesser club, he was called up for the Brazil national football team.
Palmeiras
At Palmeiras, Roberto Carlos was recognized as one of the greats of Brazilian football of all time, winning two consecutive Brazilian Leagues.
After almost signing for Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough side in 1995, Roberto Carlos chose a move to F.C. Internazionale Milano, in the Serie A, playing one season for the Nerazzurri. He scored a 30 yard free-kick on his debut vs Vicenza. Javier Zanetti also made his debut in this game alongside former England international Paul Ince.The then-coach of Inter, Roy Hodgson, wanted him to play as a left winger, but Carlos preferred to play only as a left back.
Roberto Carlos played at Real Madrid for 11 seasons, playing a total of 584 matches and scoring 71 goals in all competitions. 370 of them were league matches, in which he scored 46 goals from his left-back position. He famously set up Zinedine Zidane to score the winner for Real Madrid to win the Champions League in 2002. His consistently high standard and dynamic displays saw him voted into the uefa.com users' UEFA Team of the Year in 2002 and 2003.
On 2 August 2005, he received dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that he now counted as a European Union player. In January 2006, he set a club record for the most league matches played by a non-Spanish born player by making his 330th appearance for Madrid. He broke the previous mark of 329 held by Alfredo di Stéfano.
Having played 30 or more league matches for ten consecutive seasons and being one of the most consistent players in the squad, he was heavily criticized for conceding the ball early during the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Bayern Munich, which led to Roy Makaay's goal, the quickest goal in the tournament's history. On 9 March 2007, he announced his decision to not renew his contract with Real Madrid. In the dying seconds of one of the last few games of the season against Recreativo de Huelva, Fernando Gago played a beautiful pass and Roberto Carlos slotted it home. As a result, Real Madrid were on course for their 30th La Liga championship. He was linked with a move to Chelsea in the summer of 2006.
On 19 June 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two-year contract and one year optional with the Turkish Super League champions Fenerbahçe at the stadium in front of thousands of fans.
In the first official match he played with the team, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Super Cup against Beşiktaş by a score of two goals to one. During a league match against Sivasspor, he scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on 25 August 2007 on a diving header, which was only the third headed goal of his career.
He was injured during the final period of the same season and missed the title race between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. His team eventually lost the title to their rivals, while guaranteeing a place for themselves in Champions League knockouts for the next season. He announced that he was unhappy about the final result and would do his best to carry the domestic trophy back to the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium.
On 7 October 2009 Roberto Carlos announced that he would leave Fenerbahçe upon the expiration of his contract in December 2009. He offered to return to Real Madrid and play for free, though he also said return to the Brazilian domestic leagues was a possibility and announced on 25 November 2009 his departure.
He played in his last match for the Turkish club when he came on in the 89th minute as a substitute against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League on 17 December 2009. Team-mates gave Carlos a goodbye shower after the match as Fenerbahçe fans chanted "I love you Carlos," giving him a standing ovation.
After 15 years away from Brazil, Roberto Carlos returned to his country in 2010 to play for Corinthians. He joined his friend and former Real Madrid and Internazionale teammate Ronaldo.
On 4 June 2010, Roberto Carlos scored a goal against Internacional and helped Corinthians to move to the top of the Brazilian Championship table. The Timão won the game with the score of 2–0.
On 16 January 2011, Roberto Carlos scored an impressive goal directly from a corner kick against Portuguesa. Concerned with his safety after being threatened by fans after the Copa Libertadores da América defeat to Tolima, Roberto Carlos requested his release by the club, and was promptly released by Corinthians.
On 12 February 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala, worth approximately €10 million.
Roberto Carlos — team captain
Playing in a defensive midfield position, Carlos has been captain of Anzhi since 8 March 2011. On 25th April 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his first goal for Anzhi in a 2-2 draw Dynamo Moscow, converting a 58th minute penalty.
On 30 April 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his second goal, converting a penalty in a 1-0 win over FC Rostov. On 10 June 2011, Roberto Carlos then scored his third goal on a 20th minute in a 2-0 win over Spartak Nalchik.On 11 September 2011, Roberto Carlos scored his fourth goal in a 2-1 win over Volga. As of his first season for Anzhi, Roberto Carlos made 28 appearance and scoring 5. On 30th September 2011, Carlos became the caretaker coach of Anzhi following the sacking of Gadzhi Gadzhiyev, before Andrei Gordeyev assumed the role also in a caretaker capacity.
Roberto Carlos has announced his plans to extend his playing career until 2014.
Roberto Carlos amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals for the Brazilian national team. At the 1998 World Cup, he played seven matches, including the final loss to France. After a qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup, Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert spat on Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give Chilavert a three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup from the stands. Roberto Carlos also played seven matches in the finals, scoring a goal from a free kick against China. He also was a starter in the final against Germany, with Brazil winning 2–0. After the tournament Carlos was also included in the World Cup's All Star team.
He is especially famous for a free kick against France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997 on 3 June 1997. He shot from 35 m (115 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored. The ball curved so much that the ball boy 10 yards to the right ducked instinctively, thinking that the ball would hit him. Instead, it eventually curled back on target, much to the surprise of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who just stood in place. In 2010, a team of French scientists produced a paper explaining the trajectory of the ball.
Roberto Carlos' next international tournament was 2006 World Cup. In July 2006, after Brazil's 1–0 defeat to France in the World Cup quarter-finals, Roberto Carlos announced his retirement from the national team, saying, "I've stopped with the national team. It was my last game.
He said he no longer wanted to play for Brazil because of the criticism he faced from fans and Brazilian media for his failure to mark goalscorer Thierry Henry on France's winning goal.
Upon signing with Corinthians in January 2010, Roberto Carlos told TV Globo that he hoped to play at the 2010 World Cup and believed his return to Brazilian football may help him return to the national team, as manager Dunga had yet to settle on a left back.
However, he was left off the 30-man provisional squad that was submitted to FIFA on 11 May 2010, along with Ronaldinho and Ronaldo.
Despite his deep desire to do so, Roberto Carlos was not named in Coach Dunga's final squad of 23 for the Brazilian squad in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Instead, Brazil newcomer Michel Bastos earned a spot for the left wingback position.
